System and method for privacy management

ABSTRACT

A privacy management system is disclosed for when a calling party has a private telephone number. Privacy screening services allow a subscriber to manage and monitor incoming telephone calls, such that unwanted calls are not terminated to the subscriber. When a calling party calls the subscriber to this privacy screening service, the privacy management system manages the call according to whether the calling party number is known and public, known and private, or unknown. If the calling party number is known and public, the call is routed to the subscriber. If, however, the calling party is known and private, an announcement is played to the calling party, asking the calling party for permission to override his or her privacy. If the calling party is unknown, the calling party is asked to record his/her name.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to the termination of telephone calls in atelephone network that provides a privacy screening service to itssubscribers.

A privacy screening service is a service that allows a subscriber to theprivacy screening service to screen incoming calls. The privacyscreening service provides information to the called party (in thiscase, the subscriber to the privacy screening service) that allows thesubscriber to make an informed decision as whether or not to answer thecall. For example, a subscriber may use the privacy screening service toblock all unidentified calls from going through. Private telephonenumbers are telephone numbers that block services such as “caller ID”that would otherwise identify the caller to the called party. Intelephone systems that offer private numbers and a privacy screeningservice to its customers, calls from a private number to a subscriberwith the privacy screening service cannot be completed automatically,unless the caller authorizes the system to override the privacy of hisnumber.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the basic architecture of anAdvanced Intelligent Network telephone system. The Advanced IntelligentNetwork System is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,301 and U.S. Pat. No.5,838,774, which are hereby incorporated by reference. FIG. 1 shows thecaller's telephone 101 which is connected via the calling party's voiceline 102 a to its Service Switching Point (SSP) 103. SSP 103 isconnected via voice trunk 102 b to a second SSP (SSP 104). SSP 104 isthe SSP that services the called party's telephone 105. In this example,the called party is a subscriber who has subscribed to the privacyscreening service. (The called party will also be referred to as the“subscriber” as well as the “called party” herein.) FIG. 1 also shows aSignaling Transfer Point (STP) 106 which services a Service ControlPoint (SCP) 107 and a third SSP (SSP 108) which services a Service Node(SN) 109. SCP 107 has a database 107 a that contains subscriberinformation.

STP 106 is a signaling hub that routes packets of data over the commonchannel signaling network. Common channeling signaling networks are datacommunications networks laid over the system's switching network thatcarry data and control messages to and from and among the SSPs, STPs,and SCPs in the network. Signaling System 7 (SS7) is the protocol thatruns over common channel signaling networks. A common channel signalingnetwork using the Signaling System 7 protocol is often referred to as anSS7 network. The SS7 network carries data and control messages to theSSPs in the telephone network. SCPs are powerful fault-tolerantcomputers, e.g., AT&T Star Server FT Model 3200 or AT&T Star Server FTModel 3300 computers (these and more current computers such as theAdvantage P200 and Advantage 4P200 models are presently available fromLucent Technologies). SCPs are “intelligence centers” with access toapplications databases that enable the network to deliver advancedservices such as caller ID, privacy screening and call forwarding. TheSCPs also execute service package applications (SPAS) that deliver theadvanced services. SNs are physically generally similar to SCPs, butinclude voice and Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) signal recognitioncircuits, voice synthesizers, and voice recognition and digit collectioncapabilities. The operators of the telephone network can program theirSNs to manage data, to respond to calls and to route calls as specifiedby the telephone network, and to collect digits from a caller orsubscriber. The SN's voice circuits can also be programmed to provide avoice response (e.g., to play pre-selected announcements) to callers andto perform voice recognition. SNs can also be programmed to respond toinput from the callers by, e.g., further routing the call.

As shown in FIG. 1, STP 106 controls communications between SSPs 103,104 and 108 and SCP 107. The SSPs are connected to the caller's and thesubscriber's telephones and to each other via voice lines 102 a and 102c and via voice trunks 102 b and 102 d. The SSPs communicate with STP106 and SCP 107 via SS7 data links 110 a, 110 b, 110 c and 110 d. SN 109is connected to SSP 108 by an Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN)Basic Rate Interface (BRI) line 111.

When the caller places a call to the subscriber, the call is routed bySSP 103 to SSP 104. FIG. 1 a shows a prior art system in which call 1 isrouted from the caller to SSP 103 and then to SSP 104. Because thesubscriber has subscribed to the privacy screening service, that call(like all calls to that subscriber's number) triggers a “terminationattempt trigger” or TAT. In response to the TAT, SSP 104 issues query 2,shown in FIG. 1 a. Query 2 is a message that goes up to SCP 107 via STP106 asking for directions as to how the call should be terminated. Thequery includes the following information: the subscriber's telephonenumber (in the called party field), the calling party's telephone number(in the calling party field), the calling party's presentationrestriction indicator (also in the calling party field), and,optionally, the trigger criteria type (indicating the service for whichthe query is intended).

SCP 107 checks the presentation indicator in the calling party field ofthe query received as a result of the termination attempt trigger. Ifpresentation of the caller's number is not restricted, i.e., if thecaller's number is public, SCP 107 sends back a response (response 3 inFIG. 1 a) instructing SSP 104 to terminate the call, and to supply thecaller's telephone number (and, if the subscriber has subscribed to ahigher level of service such as caller ID deluxe, the caller's name andtelephone number). In that case, SSP 104 terminates the call (call 1′ inFIG. 1 a), i.e., completes the call, supplying the subscriber with thecaller's number (and possibly also with the caller's name). If thecaller's name is to be supplied to the customer, SSP 104 launchesanother query, a TR1188 CNAM query to the SCP, to obtain the caller'sname from either database 107 a or another database on the system thatcontains the names corresponding to the telephone numbers.

The prior art system of FIG. 1 a asks the calling party to record his orher name whenever the calling party number is private or unknown. Inthis prior art system, if the caller's number is private or unknown, SCP107 enters the subscriber's number in the calling party field inresponse 3 and directs SSP 104 to forward the call to SN 109 (call 1″ inFIG. 1 a). When SN 109 answers the call, it asks the calling party torecord his or her name. If the calling party responds by recording hisor her name, SN 109 then calls the subscriber (call 4 in FIG. 1 a),using the subscriber's telephone number (that had been stored in thecalling party field).

The TAT provisioned on the subscriber's line at SSP 104 triggers asecond time, sending a query (query 5) up to SCP 107 through STP 106.SCP 107 recognizes that this call originated with a service node, SN109, and sends a response (response 6 in FIG. 1 a) authorizingtermination to the subscriber. SN 109 then plays a dialog to thesubscriber, identifying the calling party by playing the calling party'srecorded name for the subscriber. If the subscriber chooses to acceptthe call, the call is put through (leg 4′ of call 4 in FIG. 1 a). If thesubscriber refuses to accept the call, the calling party is informedthat his or her call was not accepted, and the call is disconnected.

This prior art system works irrespective of whether the calling partynumber is public (i.e., not private), private or unknown, but cannottake full advantage of the advanced intelligent network capabilities ofthe AIN system, because the calling party number is not preserved. Thusthis prior art system does not allow the use of advanced intelligentnetwork features such as call return or call trace.

SUMMARY

The present invention is a system and method that allows calls to beterminated to a subscriber to a privacy screening service, even when thecalling party is either private or unknown, and preserves the callingparty number when the calling party number is known (whether the callingparty number is public or private). The present invention is illustratedin FIGS. 2–3, which show the same basic AIN architecture as the networkarchitecture of prior art systems of FIGS. 1–1 a. FIG. 2 shows theoperation of the present invention when the calling party is known (forboth the case when the calling party number is private and the case whenthe calling party number is public). FIG. 3 shows the operation of theinvention when the calling party number is unknown.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the calling party dials the subscriber'snumber, the call is routed (as call 1 in FIG. 2) through the caller'sSSP (SSP 103), to the subscriber's SSP, SSP 104. The call hits thesubscriber's TAT at SSP 104, triggering a query (query 2) in FIG. 2,which goes up to SCP 107 via STP 106, over SS7 links 110 b and 110 d(links 110 b and 110 d are identified in FIG. 1, but are not identifiedin FIGS. 2–3).

SCP 107 checks the calling party ID and presentation indicator in query2, and determines whether the calling party is known and public, knownand private, or unknown. In the present invention, if the calling partynumber is public and known, SCP 107 sends back a response authorizingtermination to the subscriber (response 3 in FIG. 2). If the subscriberhas subscribed to a service that provides the calling party's name aswell as the calling party's telephone number, SSP 104 then launches aquery (e.g., a TR-1188 query) to obtain calling name information fromSCP 107 and its database 107 a. Then SSP 104 terminates the call to thesubscriber (call 1′ in FIG. 2), presenting the subscriber with thecalling party's number (and name, if the subscriber has subscribed to aservice that provides the calling party's name as well as the callingparty's number).

If the calling party number is private, SCP 107 re-writes thepresentation indicator as “public”, i.e., redefines the presentationindicator in the presentation indicator field (i.e., thepresentation_restricted_indicator portion of the calling party ID fieldin the query) as public. As shown in FIG. 2, SCP 107 responds to the TATquery from SSP 104 by directing SSP 104 to forward the call to SN 109,with the presentation indicator re-written as public. SSP 104 writes thesubscriber's number in the “re-directing party” field, and forwards thecall (call 1″ from SSP 104 to SN 109 in FIG. 2) to SN 109 at SN 109'snumber via SSP 108. Thus, when the call is presented to SN 109, the callhas the subscriber's number in the “re-directing party” field, and theoriginal calling party's number in the “calling party” field. BecauseSCP 107 has toggled the presentation indicator from “private” to“public”, SN 109 has access to the calling party number. SN 109 answersthe call, and plays an announcement to the calling party, asking forhis/her permission to present his/her number (and name) to thesubscriber. If the calling party refuses to grant permission to presenthis/her number (and name) to the subscriber, the call is disconnected.If the calling party agrees to have his/her number (and name) presented,SN 109 dials a Customized Dialing Plan (CDP) code Y (e.g., *95), the10-digit called party number, and the 10-digit calling party number(call 4 in FIG. 2).

The CDP code Y triggers a query at SSP 108, which launches aninfo_analyzed query to SCP 107 (query 4′ in FIG. 2), populating the“Access Code” and “Collected Digits” fields as follows:

Access Code=Y

Collected Digits=The remainder of the dialed digits, i.e., the 10-digitcalled party number followed by the 10-digit calling party number.

SCP 107 analyzes the dialed string and returns an analyze_route response(response 5) with:

CdPN=Subscriber's number

CgPN=Calling party number

SSP 108 then dials the subscriber number (call 6 in FIG. 2). This callis routed through SSP 104, where it triggers a TAT query (query 7) fromSSP 104 to SCP 107 with the following parameters:

CgPN=Calling party number

CdPN=Subscriber's number

-   -   Charge Number=SN 109's number, e.g., lead number for SN 109's        Multi Line Hunt Group (MLHG) number

SCP 107 recognizes the Charge Number as SN 109's MLHG number, andauthorizes SSP 104 to terminate the call (response 8). SSP 104 thenpresents the call to the subscriber (call 1′ in FIG. 2, with thepresentation indicator set to “public”). SSP 104 obtains the callingparty's name by sending a CNAM TR-1188 query to SCP 107 (or to anotherSCP that responds to TR-1188 CNAM queries). As soon as the subscriber'stelephone rings, SN 109 can drop out of the route, with the call routedthrough SSPs 103, 104, 108 and 104 (again) and on to the subscriber.

FIG. 3 shows the operation of the present invention when the callingparty is unknown. As above, the sequence starts when the calling partydials the subscriber's number. The call is routed (as call 1 in FIG. 3)through the caller's SSP, SSP 103, to the subscriber's SSP, SSP 104. Thecall hits the subscriber's TAT at SSP 104, triggering a query (query 2in FIG. 3), which goes up to SCP 107 via STP 106, over SS7 links 10 band 10 d. SCP 107 examines the presentation indicator in the callingparty ID field in query 2, and determines that the calling party numberis unknown.

In response 3 to query 2, SCP 107 then directs SSP 104 to route the callto SN 109 (call 1′ from SSP 104 to SN 109 in FIG. 3). The call arrivesat SN 109 with the subscriber as the redirecting party, the callingparty number in the calling party field, and the SN number in the calledparty field. When the call is presented to SN 109, SN 109 checks thecalling party number, and determines that it is unknown. SN 109 thenplays an announcement to the calling party, asking the calling party torecord his or her name. If the calling party refuses to do so, the callis disconnected. If the calling party agrees to record his/her name, SN109 dials the CDP code Y, the 10-digit called party number, and the10-digit SN Multi Line Hunt Group number (call 4 in FIG. 3). The CDPcode Y triggers a query at SSP 108, which sends an info_analyzed query(query 4′ in FIG. 3) to SCP 107, populating the “Access Code” and“Collected Digits” fields as follows:

Access Code=Y

Collected Digits=the remainder of the dialed digits, i.e., the 10 digitcalled party number and the 10-digit SN MLHG number.

SCP 107 analyzes the query and returns an analyze_route message(response 5) to SSP 108, which then calls the subscriber (call 6) with:

CdPN=subscriber's number

CgPN=SN's MLHG number.

This call triggers a TAT query (query 7) on the subscriber's line at SSP104. The query includes SN 109's MLHG number as the calling partynumber, the subscriber's number as the called party number, and SN 109'sMLHG number as the charge number. Since the charge number is the leadnumber for SN 109's MLHG, SCP 107 sends SSP 104 an Authorize Terminationmessage (response 8), authorizing termination of the call from SSP 104to the subscriber. SSP 104 then executes a TRI 188 query, which returnsthe privacy manager as the calling party name. SSP 104 then completesthe call (call 1″). For subscribers to caller ID deluxe, the LCD displayon the subscriber's telephone will show, e.g., “Privacy Manager” as thecalling party.

SN 109 then plays an announcement to the subscriber, asking thesubscriber whether he or she would like to accept or reject a call fromthe calling party, whose name is played for the subscriber as “recordedname.” The subscriber can then, e.g., accept the call by pressing 1,have a simple rejection played by pressing 2, have a “sales call”rejection (“we do not accept sales calls, please remove this number fromyour caller list”) played by pressing 3, or route the call to voicemailby pressing 4. If the subscriber accepts the call, SN 109 transferscontrol of the call to SSP 104, and drops out (although the call isstill routed through SSP 108). If the subscriber rejects the call, SN109 plays the announcement selected by the subscriber or routes the callto voicemail, and then the call is disconnected.

The present invention thus preserves the calling party number, such thatthe system can take full advantage of the capabilities of the advancedintelligent network, e.g., call return or call trace for all knowncalls, whether private or public.

It is an object of the present invention to offer a privacy screeningservice to subscribers that allows private calling parties to overridetheir privacy, and that allows calls from unknown calling parties to berouted to the subscriber, and yet still allows the use of advancedintelligent network features.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the basic architecture of an AINtelephone network.

FIG. 1 a is a schematic diagram showing a prior art system's routing ofcalls when a subscriber has subscribed to a privacy screening service.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the present invention, showing therouting of calls when a subscriber has subscribed to a privacy screeningservice and the calling party number is known.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the present invention, showing therouting of calls when a subscriber has subscribed to a privacy screeningservice and the calling party number is unknown.

FIG. 4 is an overall schematic diagram of the call flows of the presentinvention, showing how the call flows depend upon whether the callingparty number is public, private or unknown.

FIG. 5 is a chart outlining the call flows of the present invention,when the subscriber has subscribed to a privacy screening service, andthe calling party's number is known and public.

FIGS. 6–6 a are charts outlining the call flows of the presentinvention, when the subscriber has subscribed to a privacy screeningservice that provides the name and the number of the calling party, andthe calling party's number is known and private.

FIGS. 7–7 a are charts outlining the call flows of the presentinvention, when the subscriber has subscribed to a privacy screeningservice, and the calling party's number is unknown.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention can be described by describing the sequence ofcall flows initiated when a calling party calls a subscriber who hassubscribed to a privacy screening service. FIG. 4 is an overallschematic showing that the call flows depend on whether the callingparty number is known and public (further described in Example 1 andFIG. 5), known and private (further described in Example 2 and FIGS. 6–6a) or unknown (further described in Example 3 and FIGS. 7–7 a). As shownin FIG. 4, the call sequence starts in step 401, when the calling partydials the subscriber's telephone number. The calling party's SSP, SSP103, routes the call to the subscriber's SSP, SSP 104 in step 402.Because the subscriber has subscribed to a privacy screening service, instep 403 that call hits a termination attempt trigger or TAT at SSP 104.In response to the TAT, SSP 104 sends a query up to SCP 107 in step 404.In step 405, SCP 107 determines whether (1) the calling party number isknown and public, in which case the call is routed to the subscriber instep 406, as described in Example 1 and FIG. 5; (2) the calling partynumber is known and private, in which case the call is routed to SN 109,which asks the calling party to override his or her privacy (step 407),the calling party agrees or refuses (step 408) and then SN 109 routesthe call to the subscriber if the calling party agrees (step 409A) ordisconnects the call if the calling party refuses (step 409R), asdescribed in Example 2 and FIGS. 6–6 a; or (3) the calling party numberis unknown, in which case the call is also routed to SN 109, SN 109 asksthe calling party to record his or her name in step 410, the callingparty refuses or agrees to record his or her name in step 411, and thenthe call is disconnected (step 412R) or routed to the subscriber (step412A). This sequence for unknown calling parties is described in Example3 and FIGS. 7–7 a.

As discussed above, FIGS. 5–7 a represent schematically the call flowscorresponding to the cases described below in Examples 1–3. The acronymsused in FIGS. 5–7 a are:

Calling Party Number: CgPN Called Party Number: CdPN Charge Number:ChargeN Re-Directing Party ID: Re-DirectID Presentation indicator:Privacy Display Text: DspTxt Announcement Identification: AnnID CollectDigits: CollDig

The announcements played by the network will be exemplified as follows:

-   -   91: Announcement to an unknown calling party, asking the calling        party to record his/her name.    -   92: Announcement to the subscriber, playing the calling party's        name, and asking the subscriber to accept or reject the call.    -   93: Announcement to the calling party when the calling party's        number is private, asking the calling party for permission to        provide his/her number (and name) to the subscriber, and        explaining that if permission is not granted, the call will be        disconnected.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention with specific examples,the flow charts in FIGS. 5–7 a will all have the calling party number(CgPN) as 111-111-1111, the subscriber's number (initially, CdPN) as222-222-2222, and the Service Node's Multi-Line Hunt Group number as333-333-3333.

The specific sequence of calls depends on the private/public/unknownstatus of the calling party. As described in Examples 1–3, there arethree possible call sequences.

EXAMPLE 1 Calling Party is Known and Public

FIG. 5 is a chart showing the call flows to a subscriber when thesubscriber has subscribed to a privacy screening service, and thecalling party is known (i.e., it is in the system's database) and ispublic (i.e., there are no restrictions on disclosing the name andnumber to a called party that has, e.g., caller ID). The sequence isalso illustrated in FIG. 2 (call 1, query 2, response 3, call 1′).

As shown in FIG. 5, the call flows start in step 501, with the callingparty dialing the subscriber's telephone number. That call (call 1 inFIG. 2) goes through the calling party's SSP (SSP 103), carrying with itthe calling party's number 111-111-1111 in the CgPN field, thesubscriber's or called party number 222-222-2222 in the CdPN field, thecalling party's number in the charge number field, and leaving theReDirectID field blank. The presentation indicator is set to public. Instep 502, SSP 103 routes the call to the subscriber's SSP (SSP 104).When the call reaches SSP 104, it hits a termination attempt trigger (orTAT) that has been provisioned on the subscriber's line at SSP 104, toprovide the subscriber with the privacy screening service. Thus in step503, SSP 104 sends a TAT query (query 2 in FIG. 2) to SCP 107. In step504, SCP 107 checks the presentation indicator in the Calling Party IDand determines that the calling party information is not restricted,i.e., is public, and authorizes termination of the call (response 3).

In step 505, SSP 104 terminates the call to the subscriber, providingthe subscriber with the calling party's number (and name if thesubscriber's service provides name as well as number). In step 506, thecall goes through (call 1′ in FIG. 2).

EXAMPLE 2 Calling Party is Known and Private

FIGS. 6–6 a are charts showing the call flows to a subscriber to aprivacy screening service, when the calling party is known, but his/hernumber is private. In step 601, the calling party starts the callsequence by dialing the subscriber's number. The call goes to thecalling party's SSP (SSP 103), which routes the call in step 602 to thesubscriber's SSP (SSP 104). Because the subscriber's line at SSP 104 isprovisioned with a TAT, this call triggers a TAT query (query 2) fromSSP 104 to SCP 107 in step 603. In step 604, SCP 107 checks thepresentation indicator in the calling party ID field and determines thatthe calling party's number is private. SCP 107 then toggles the callingparty's presentation indicator from “private” to “public”, and instructsSSP 104 to send the call to SN 109, with instructions to SN 109 to playan announcement to the calling party, and collect one digit in response.

In step 605, SN 109 plays an announcement (e.g., announcement 93) askingthe calling party to agree to have his or her number (and name)disclosed to the subscriber. In step 606, the calling party can respondby, e.g., pressing “1” to agree or “2” to refuse, and SN 109 collectsthe digit pressed (e.g., the 1 or the 2). If the calling party refusespermission, in step 607R SN 109 responds by disconnecting the call. Inthat case, the subscriber never knows that an attempt was made to callhim or her.

If the calling party agrees to have his or her privacy overriden, instep 607A SN 109 dials a CDP code Y, the 10-digit called party numberand the 10-digit calling party number (call 4 in FIG. 2). In step 608,SSP 108 responds to the CDP code by sending an info_analyzed query(query 4′) to SCP 107, populating the “Access Code” and “CollectedDigits” fields as follows:

Access code=Y (*95, in this example)

Collected Digits=the remainder of the digits, i.e. the 10-digit calledparty number followed by the 10-digit calling party number.

In step 609, SCP 107 responds with an analyze_route message (response 5)to SSP 108, with the subscriber's number in the CDPN field, and thecalling party number in the CgPN field. SN 109 then dials thesubscriber's number in step 610 (call 6). When this call reaches SSP104, it triggers a TAT, since the subscriber's line is provisioned withthe TAT for the privacy screening service. In step 611, SSP 104 sendsthe TAT query to SCP 107 (query 7), with the calling party's number inthe CgPN field, the subscriber's number in the CdPN field, and SN 109'snumber in the ChargeN field. In step 612, SCP 107 recognizes the chargenumber as SN 109's number, and authorizes termination of the call to thesubscriber (response 8). In step 613, if the subscriber has caller IDDeluxe, SSP 104 sends a TR-1188 CNAM query (query 9, shown only in FIG.6 a) to SCP 107, which responds in step 614 with the calling party'sname (response 10, shown only in FIG. 6 a). SSP 108 terminates the callto the subscriber in step 615, and the call goes through in step 616(call 1′ in FIG. 2).

EXAMPLE 3 Calling Party is Unknown

FIGS. 7–7 a are charts showing the call flows to a subscriber to aprivacy screening service when the calling party is unknown (e.g.,because the call is coming from outside the network). In step 701, thecalling party dials the subscriber's number. The call (call 1 in FIG. 3)is routed by the calling party's SSP 103 to the subscriber's SSP 104 instep 702. This call triggers a TAT at SSP 104, because the subscriber'sline is provisioned with a privacy screening TAT. In step 703, SSP 104sends the TAT query to SCP 107 (query 2 in FIG. 3). In step 704, SCP 107checks the calling party ID and determines that the calling party isunknown. SCP 107 then responds (response 3) to query 2 by instructingSSP 104 to route the call to SN 109, with instructions to SN 109 to playan announcement to the caller. SSP 104 routes the call to SN 109 via SSP108. The call reaches SN 109 with the SN's Multi-Line Hunt Group Numberin the CdPN field, and the subscriber's number in the ReDirectID field.The calling party field is blank. In step 705, SN 109 plays anannouncement, e.g., announcement 91, asking the calling party to recordhis or her name. The calling party agrees, e.g., by saying their name,or refuses (e.g., by hanging up) in step 706. If the calling partyrefuses to record his or her name, the call is disconnected in step707R.

If the calling party records his or her name, in step 707A SN 109 dialsCDP code Y, e.g., *95, followed by the subscriber's number and the leadnumber of SN 109's Multi-line Hunt Group. In step 708, this dialedstring reaches SSP 108, and the CDP code Y triggers an info_analyzedquery (query 4) from SSP 108 to SCP 107, with the “Access Code” and“Collected Digits” fields populated as follows:

Access code=Y (*95, in this example)

Collected Digits=the remainder of the digits, i.e. the 10-digit calledparty number (the subscriber's number), followed by the 10-digit leadnumber of SN 109's MLHG.

In step 709, SCP 107 analyzes the string, and returns an analyze_routemessage (response 5) with the subscriber's number in the CdPN field andSN 109's lead Multi-Hunt Group number in the CgPN field. SSP 108 callsthe subscriber in step 710 (call 6 in FIG. 3) via SSP 104, triggeringthe TAT on the subscriber's line at SSP 104. In step 711, SSP 104 thensends the TAT query (query 7) to SCP 107. This query has SN 109's MultiLine Hunt Group lead number in the charge party field. In step 712, SCP107 recognizes SN 109's number in the charge party field, and authorizestermination of the call (response 8).

In step 713, SSP 104 terminates the call to the subscriber, and plays anannouncement (e.g., announcement 92) that includes playing the recordingof the calling party's name. If the subscriber subscribes to caller IDdeluxe, SSP 104 also executes a CNAME query to SCP 107, to which SCP 107responds with “Privacy Manager” (or a similar name) as the callingparty. In step 714, the subscriber decides whether to accept or rejectthe call. If the subscriber rejects the call, SSP 104 plays anannouncement to the caller rejecting the call in step 715R, and the callis disconnected in step 716. If the subscriber rejects the call,optionally the subscriber may select a simple rejection or a sales callrejection, or may choose to forward the call to voicemail. If thesubscriber decides to accept the call, the call goes through in step715A.

The foregoing disclosure of embodiments of the present invention andexamples of how the present invention can be carried out has beenpresented for purposes of illustration and description. It is notexhaustive or intended to limit the invention to the precise formsdisclosed herein. Many variations and modifications of the embodimentsand examples described herein will be obvious to one of ordinary skillin the art in light of the above disclosure. The scope of the inventionis to be defined only by the claims appended hereto, and by theirequivalents.

1. A privacy management system that permits a subscriber to screen callsmade to the subscriber, comprising: a first service switching pointconnected to a subscriber telephone that receives a telephone call froma calling party that is intended for the subscriber and in response tothe call initiates a query to determine whether the call is from apublic telephone number, a private telephone number, or an unknowntelephone number; a second service switching point connected to aservice node and the first service switching point; and a servicecontrol point in communication with the first and second serviceswitching points that receives the query and responds to the query;wherein when the telephone call is from a public number, the telephonecall is forwarded directly to the subscriber, and optionally when thetelephone call is from a private number or unknown number, the telephonecall is directed to the service node through the second serviceswitching point, wherein a presentation indicator is first toggled andafterwards the service node requests from the calling party whethercalling party information may be forwarded to the subscriber beforeforwarding the telephone call to the subscriber, and if authorizedprovides that information from the service control point, wherein thesystem is configured for preserving and delivering the calling partynumber from a private calling party to the subscriber.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein if the calling party denies permission, then the callis disconnected.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein if the calling partygrants permission, then the call is forwarded to the subscriber withinformation relating to the calling party.
 4. The system of claim 1,wherein the permission is granted by the calling party by pushing anumber on the telephone.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein when the callis from an unknown number, the service node requests permission from thecalling party to forward information relating to the calling party tothe subscriber.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein if the calling partydenies permission, then the call is disconnected.
 7. The system of claim5, wherein if the calling party grants permission, then the call isforwarded to the subscriber with information relating to the callingparty.
 8. The system of claim 5, wherein the permission is granted bythe calling party by stating a name of the calling party.
 9. The systemof claim 8, wherein the subscriber receives information relating to thename of the calling party and decides whether to accept the call. 10.The system of claim 9, wherein when the subscriber refuses the call, thecall is disconnected.
 11. The system of claim 9, wherein when thesubscriber accepts the call, the calling party and the subscriber areconnected.
 12. A privacy management system for controlling a telephonecall from a calling party to a subscriber, the privacy management systemcomprising: a first service switching point connected to a subscribertelephone; a second service switching point connected to a service nodeand the first service switching point; means for determining whether thetelephone call is from a public number, a private number, or an unknownnumber; means for forwarding the telephone call directly to thesubscriber when the telephone call is determined to be from a publictelephone number; means for directing the telephone call to the servicenode through the second service switching point, when the telephone callis determined to be from a private or unknown telephone number; meansfor first toggling a presentation indicator and afterwards means forrequesting authorization from the calling party before forwarding thetelephone call to the subscriber; means for preserving the calling partynumber; and means for providing the calling party number to thesubscriber if authorized, wherein when the call is from a privatenumber, the system is configured for preserving the calling party numberand terminating the call to the subscriber.
 13. The system of claim 12,wherein when the call is from a private number, the service noderequests permission by a press of a button from the calling party toforward information relating to the calling party to the subscriber. 14.The system of claim 12, wherein when the call is from an unknown number,the service node requests the calling party to state a name of thecalling party to be forwarded to the subscriber.
 15. A method formanaging privacy by controlling calls received by a subscriber, themethod comprising: receiving a call from a calling party number directedto the subscriber; determining whether the call is from a public number,a private number, or an unknown number, and forwarding the call directlyto the subscriber if the call is from a public number; first toggling apresentation indicator and afterwards inquiring permission from thecalling party to forward private number information to the subscriber ifthe call is from a private number, wherein, if the call is from aprivate number, the system preserves the calling party number forpresentation to the subscriber; requesting identification informationfrom the calling party to forward to the subscriber if the call is froman unknown number.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:forwarding the call made from a private number to the subscriber if thecalling party grants permission; or forwarding the call made from anunknown number to the subscriber if the calling party providesidentifying information.